Trey Pennington

The Beatles had it right when they sang “All you need is love.” On social media platforms, the same thing is true. What’s important on social media is how you share that love and show others, your friends, colleagues, customers, social media connections and the public, you truly care. This means more than empty words it’s about actions.

Trey Pennington, who I met via Twitter a year ago and in real life at the Monitoring Social Media conference in New York a few months later, taught me the value of storiesfor marketing and social media. The power of stories goes beyond marketing and social media interactions. It’s at the core of how we communicate as people in a human voice to provide insights and lessons about the world. Tragically, Trey’s own story came to an end yesterday when he took his life.

To understand social media’s non-stop, multi-directional conversation, a road map can be useful. Here’s a list of 12 top social media experts to help you tackle the terrain of this evolving landscape. In addition, there are 5 up and comers to keep your eye on.

Every one needs a group of family, friends and colleagues around them. In the social media ecosphere, people refer to this group of like-minded individuals as a tribe. So how do you build your tribe when you’re first starting out in social media? Here are seven tips.